Take Me To Death
by SexyStardust
Summary: Five months after her parents' untimely death Cora finds herself in a world of hurt and mystery. Taken in by her strange, older cousin in a small desolate town, Cora begins to unravel the shroud of darkness over her new life with dangerous consequences. (I do not own anything related to SlenderMan, just my characters. Thank you and enjoy)
1. Of Strangers

Cora sighed for the millionth time that night. It was of course unnoticed by anyone passing her. She languidly watched customers stroll in and out of aisles. Her fingers mindlessly stroked over the single key in her pocket. Minutes felt like hours as the night dragged on, customers slowly diminishing from the store and the evening sun coming in. The tall windows in the back filtered in the soft orange glow of the setting sun. Cora made her way back there, her pale blue eyes scanning the view of the forest from those back windows. It was always darker on this side of the store. She dusted the same shelf for the third time that day, waiting for her shift to end. The gas station was never active this time of day as everyone had gone home from work in the rest of the town. It's not like there was a curfew, their community wasn't large and crime was generally low, pretty much to the point of no existence. No one seemed to stay out after light faded, but Cora never wondered why. She never went out much herself, as if there was much to do in a town of three hundred. With mostly elderly so that was also a good incentive to not get out much.

She gazed at her faded reflection in the window. Thin lips in a straight line, with no hint of a smile, pale skin from not seeing much of sunlight, and a general weary look painted her features. She sighed as she brushed her fingers through her dark auburn ponytail that cascaded down her back. With a spray of glass cleaner, her reflection was gone and she proceeded to gaze out the window as she wiped it in a slow, circular motion. A black shadow dashed behind a tree and it took her a moment to register that shadows do not run alone.

Footsteps approached and a look of annoyance crossed her face before she turned with a fake, curious look. It was only Keith, and she already knew what he was going to say.

"Care for a ride home tonight?" Keith asked with a mischivious grin as he walked over.

"Um, no." Cora replied. "My bicycle is still working from the last time you asked to give me a ride."

"Hey I just don't want you to be lost in the forest on your way home tonight."

Keith ignored the roll of her eyes and instead gazed up and down her body, unconsciously licking his lips. Cora noticed and shuddered, turning her back and going back up front. She could never see what was so…tempting about her body. She stood at a taller than average height for a girl at her age of twenty, around five feet and seven inches, no curves, no cleavage. Just tall and a bit clumsy.

"Well listen…" Keith began but a jingle and a yell from the front door cut him off.

"Keithy! Oh my Keith. Where are you?"

Cora noticed the look of dread on his face as he rushed to meet his girlfriend. She threw her arms around him and pouted the whole time wishing he could come home, but his shift didn't end for another few hours.

"Wait in the back for me, Susan. I told you to not visit me here." He told her while rolling her eyes. She planted a wet kiss on his lips while glaring at Cora who watched boredly.

"Weirdo." Susan muttered before disappearing in the back.

Cora noticed it was time for her to leave and slipped out the door before Keith noticed she was gone. He shouted at her as she pedaled away from the store, down a worn dirt path she used frequently. The evening breeze flowed gently past her face. She deeply inhaled the scent of wet dirt and enjoyed the sound of her tires running over the fallen leaves. All around stray streams of the setting sun lit up her path and she found herself home in no time.

She guided her bicycle in the darkened garage that was constantly left open- her cousin didn't know how to close a window or a door-but only when she was actually there at the house. They lived practically in the middle of nowhere and saw little to no one so the house was never locked up. Of course her cousin had enough sense to lock up if she bothered to leave the premises. Cora knew her cousin was home, she could smell fresh blueberry muffins from the open window leading into the kitchen. Cora also knew her cousin was weird, maybe even insane, who didn't socialize whatsoever with anyone, if she didn't count the birds or one of many stray cats that roamed in and out of the house when they pleased.

She entered the kitchen to find it empty but with hot muffins cooling off on the stove.

"Glad you're back. Just in time to eat some of these before supper." A monotonous voice spoke up from a cornering darkened room.

Anyone else would've screamed but after five months of living with her cousin, Cora was use to the phantom-like appearances her cousin made, how quiet she moved around her own house, and how she seemed to disappear before it was known.

"Hey thanks Mill. These look wonderful. Did you know they were my favorite?" Cora asked with a smile while turning to look at her cousin.

Mill stood at a mere five-five, a little shorter, her long brown hair wild and free-falling down her neck, just barely reaching her shoulders. Her dark brown eyes held a constant guarded look, face set in a permanent frown. Cora had accidently seen her smile, maybe once, but Mill hadn't known, so Cora kept it her little secret she felt giddy to know. Mill currently was nibbling on a muffin of her own while her other arm stayed crossed across her chest. Cora was mildly jealous of the features that Mill seemed to be blessed with. The curves, the bosom, even the pouty lips, all natural of course, but Mill always found a way to complain about something that Cora wished she had. As she bit into a muffin Cora simply thought it was the scar running across Mill's face that made her self-conscious about everything else. She thought this a lot but never dared to ask what it was from. Everyone had their secrets. Even though Mill was only a few years older, Cora still knew how to respect her elders.

"Maybe." Mill replied, giving a half smirk. She knew Cora was studying her face again and turned away.

It had been a slow day as usual. Mill spent most of her day outdoors though, spending time in her garden but Cora never went out there with her as it was Mill's quiet place, away from the house. Cora admired the inside of the house though. It was always dark, candles lighting the main pathways and rooms, never got hot but stayed comfortable, a bit dusty but nothing was ever out of place, as if Mill even owned enough things to become out of place. The only things that seemed to move were the cats, and even they had enough respect to leave the house when they needed to eat, groom, or simply use the bathroom. So it was a clean house, creepy, but clean and respectable. And Mill had electricity; she just only used it when necessary. So Cora's life for the past five months had grown quiet and peaceful, something she never thought she could get use to after her life in a huge city.


	2. And Letters

The two often spent time together in the house's library. That was Cora's favorite part, being able to read almost any book at her disposal. One thing she never mentioned to Mill was the old, fading letters she found hidden between book pages in certain books. There were dozens, all addressed to Mill and all from a guy named Jared. Cora never felt guilty about reading them, mostly because they weren't romantic in nature and never revealed anything shocking. Not from what she could tell. And the letters were close to a decade old, the last one ending with a date only three years ago. Cora never found any beyond that. Sometimes if she thought about it hard enough she felt like she was in the middle of a giant mystery. Her parents' tragic death, how her cousin who seemed to be the ultimate outcast took her in, the old letters, and everyone else in this town that seemed to hold their own secrets. The locals whispered, kept to themselves, looking haunted. The missing child posters around town that seem faded with time wasn't pleasing either. Beyond all that Cora was just glad to have a place to go, to be able to grieve but not alone. She of course was too young to have her own place yet but didn't plan on staying in this creepy old town for the rest of her life.

Mill awoke in a cold sweat hours later. Her eyes adjusted to the blackness of her room as she could make the outline of the furniture with the help of a lone stream of moonlight cutting through the thick trees. She lay there trying to control her breathing and was grateful her room was on the other side from Cora's. For a moment she mistook her frantic heartbeat for the sound of running feet. Eventually it slowed and she crawled out of bed, her feet setting down on the cool wooden floors. She felt her way over to the window and pushed it up, the night breeze flooding her room. She stood as if in a trance for about an hour, gazing into the darkness. When she finally blinked she nearly jumped through the ceiling. There for a brief moment she had seen it. The tall, black shadow, unmoving, a white face with no facial features yet somehow it pierced her soul and she could feel death radiating from it. Then the thing was gone. The pain in her scar flared up. Mill clutched her face and stumbled back to her bed, dropping in it like dead weight. She didn't know when she fell back to sleep.

Cora awoke to a tear-stained pillow. She cried herself to sleep almost every night. Sometimes, even with her cousin there, she felt truly alone in dealing with her grief. They never talked about the plane crash. Perhaps her cousin was just giving her distance and respect. Eventually she was going to talk about it, about everything. But the two felt like strangers towards each other.

The house was quiet that morning. Cora was use to that too by now. Mill was never around in the mornings; usually in her garden or on a long morning walk. Breakfast was always ready though. So when the kitchen looked completely untouched from the night before Cora felt a twinge of worry. Still in her nightgown she made her way up the stairs slowly, bare feet knowing where not to step as to not make a creak. It was never set as a rule, Mill didn't have rules, but Cora knew to not go in her room. She tip-toed down the candle-lit hallway and approached the door that appeared to be shut. Upon arrival she could see the door was slightly ajar and felt the early morning wind seeping through the crack. Blue eyes peered through the crack. The bed was un-made, the window open, and Mill's bed clothes tossed on the floor. After searching the whole house and backyard, Cora concluded her cousin was not anywhere around. Something didn't feel right.


	3. Existence of a Ghost

Since she was off work today she decided to venture into the forest behind the house. She had never really gone before, only sticking to the man-made paths that led from the front of the house to the road. Cora changed into a light grey sweater, a pair of faded jeans and hiking boots she never thought she'd use. There were no mirrors in the house so she did her best to pull her hair back into a braid. She didn't think she'd be gone long but something told her to take a flashlight and leave a quick note in case Mill came back before she did.

" _Mill, hope everything is ok, I've gone for a walk and will be back soon. Love you- Cora._ "

She paused as she wrote the last part. That was the first time she had said something endearing since she lost her parents. Mill may have felt like a stranger, even after all these months, but she did care for her cousin and hoped the best for her.

Cats greeted her as she left out the backdoor. They swished their tails lazily and gave Cora a bored look as if wondering when their next meal would be. Some scattered off in the trees as if she was a threat. The sun was barely peaking overhead and Cora guessed she had about nine hours of real sunlight left before she would have to turn back. A chill settled over her body as she began walking away from the house. Looking back at it she felt the coldness coming from it, and not the settling winter cold but a strange emptiness as if the place had been abandoned for years.

As she kept walking, her boots crunching on dead leaves, she spotted her cousin's garden. Cora had to stop to catch her breath for a second upon seeing the garden. The place was nearly dead. It seemed as if nothing had grown for months. A small bench rested quietly in the corner, vines growing on it like a plague. She could see the outline of faint rows where there once had been something growing, and little paper signs with faded letters that indicated what was growing there. A frown ran across her face. It wasn't like Mill said she was growing anything, so it wasn't like she was lying about having a garden, even if it was dead. Maybe she had been trying to cultivate the ground.

Something by the bench fluttered and Cora made her way over. It was a single piece of paper, a note. It was trapped under some vines but looked fairly new. Carefully she freed it and while reading it could clearly see it was a letter. This time it was addressed _to_ Jared, from Mill. Cora was confused because the date indicated it was only written a few weeks ago but never sent. She sat down on the barest spot of the bench and began reading.

" _It's been a few years but I feel I'm finally ready to talk to you again. I know you'll never read this, but I need to write and hope that one day I'll see you again. So much has changed since you left yet at the same time I feel frozen in time. Like the world has moved on without me and I'm still waiting for something to happen. For you to return. I've wanted to come find you and apologize for everything, for not being there, for not believing you, for letting you go. What happened back then doesn't matter anymore but what happened afterwards still haunts me and I haven't learned to let go. I never meant for you to be committed and I always wonder if you ever forgave me but I know it's pointless to wonder that now. Pointless and too late I tell myself. I hear your grave is underneath a beautiful oak tree, away from other graves and that's all I need to not disturb it with my presence. I miss you something awful. I want you to know I've kept all your letters and read them when I find them. I want you to know I still-"_

And that's how it ended. Cora blinked in surprise. She felt deeply burdened, like that was something she was not supposed to see. But it clicked and she realized all those letters from Jared were written from a mental institution. Cora realized why he finally stopped writing years ago. It also partially explained why her cousin was such a shut-in.

When she finally looked up, blinking tears away from her eyes, she stood with a start and could see the sun had moved. How long had she been sitting there? Cora folded the letter and stuck it deep within her pocket. She set out even more determined to find her cousin and get to the bottom of everything.

An hour later she realized her determination had also gotten her lost. There were no trails, no sign of someone walking through there, and all the trees looked the same. She thought she had been walking in a straight line but the forest had grown dense and she had no choice but to stray from her path. It would've been peaceful for the most part if it hadn't been so silent. Cora exhaled slowly, watching her warm breath mix with the cooler air and float away. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around as she kept walking, eyes darting looking for a sign of anything different.


	4. The Darkness Screams

Even with the sun it grew colder as the day went on and the feeling of being watched was not going away and was only getting worse. Then it happened, a footstep behind her that didn't match with her footsteps rhythm. She whirled around only to meet a surprised looking Keith. The fact it was him didn't make her feel any better. She backed up.

"Woah, hey wait-"

"How long have you been following me?" She demanded, cutting him off.

"Not long, I swear, I was just curious-" he started taking another step forward.

Cora didn't see this ending well. Her pale blue eyes narrowed with suspicion. She tensed as he moved forward. Keith backed off for a bit and laughed, jamming his hands into his pockets.

"So, uh, why are you out here? Alone?" He asked, adding that last part with a wink.

"Walking, can't I just walk?" she asked bitterly while turning her back and started to take off. She was abruptly grabbed by her wrist and yanked back towards him.

"Listen now, I know you want me, quit playing hard to get. You whores are all the same-"

He was cut off by hard punch to his face. Both stood stunned for a moment, Cora clenching her hand from the impact and Keith staring like an idiot as blood ran down his lips. She took off running before he could recover, but unfortunately so did he. It wasn't hard to see at this time of day but Cora was completely lost and roots sticking up threatened to trip her at every turn. She could feel Keith gaining on her and panic set it, the adrenaline rushed and for once she feared for her life. Suddenly the ground disappeared and Cora felt her fingers grasping for anything as she began to fall down a steep slope. Thankfully, or maybe not, a hand grabbed the back of her sweater and she was brought face to face with her attacker. He didn't even seem to notice she had almost tumbled down the hill. His eyes were ablaze with anger and there was a sick grin on his face. Cora screamed, clawed, kicked, did anything she could and could see her fate before it even happened to her. She thought for a brief moment she was blacking out from sheer panic because it grew dark behind Keith to where he was the only thing she could see. The wind grew icy, but Keith didn't seem to notice as he started tearing at her clothes.

Something dark red and warm splattered across Cora's face and everything went still for one horrible moment. Keith gasped for air as he looked down, as they both looked down to see something utterly black and tentacle like sticking out of Keith's chest. Whatever it was kept him in place so only Cora could gaze in horror at the tall, slender, faceless thing that loomed behind them. It was almost like a tree, unmoving but the ghost white face with no eyes or anything seemed to look straight at her menacingly. As the moment unfroze Cora found herself falling as Keith let go of her sweater. Keith was also looking straight at her with the most pained and confused look ever. The thing behind him ripped out its tentacle and Keith's heart along with it. That was the last thing Cora saw as she blacked out while tumbling down the hill far away from any light.


End file.
